Hungry Pac-Man

Saw this in a window from the street. 

Pac-Man eating the dots/pellets and going for the ghost. 

The classic arcade video game from 1980s still speaks volumes. 

Pac-Man is goal-oriented and hungrily eat the pellet pieces, but if the ghosts touch him first then he’s toast (or at least one of his 3 lives are).

Not so different from real life…

We try to reach our goals, by taking one bite at a time until we “eat the elephant.”

But if those people who are naysayers, haters, Debbie Downers, and obstructionists, get to us first, then we can not only lose momentum, and but also eventually be forced to divert or miss out on achieving our goals. 

Ghosts aren’t hollow friendly creatures, but those who want to stop progress, stop you, and maybe even end your pellet-eating life. 

You need to eat the super “power pellets” to overcome and eat the ghosts.

Eating all the pellets can be a herculean task requirement strength, resourcefulness, and determination, but that’s what takes you to the next level in the game of life. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Contributors and Whiners

Have you ever noticed the relationship between those that contribute and those that whine. 

The bad news is there is a highly inverse relationship between contributing and whining.

– Those that contribute, don’t whine–they are focused on how to make things better!

– Those that whine, don’t contribute–they complain and naysay, but add no real value.

The good news is that some solid contributors can more than counterbalance the whiners.

– Unfortunately, too often the whiners outnumber the contributors.

– But fortunately the contributors outweigh the whiners.

Despite your best efforts, you may not be able to make the whiners stop whining and throwing up roadblocks. 

You’re often best-off spending your time working with the other contributors who want to see things through to success. 

Be a leader, not a babysitter and help the contributors win! 😉

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal adapted from here with attribution to mediamodifier)

“Shock And Awe” Project Management

So this is a new type of project management and it can be very effective. 

It’s called (my name): 

Shock and Awe Project Management

This technique is similar to the military doctrine of shock and awe that uses speed and overwhelming power to dominate the battlefield and vanquish the enemy.

In project management too, there are often naysayers, Debbie Downers, resisters, excuse makers, and people that lay down obstacle after obstacle to progress. 

This invariably derails projects and causes them to fall behind schedule, go over budget, experience scope creep, not meet the genuine user requirements, and ultimately fail!

However, if you manage the project with “shock and awe” and set aggressive timelines, assign substantial and very good resources, and move the project full speed ahead, then you can similarly create a momentum to the project that enables it to overcome the “enemies of the progress” (i.e. those that don’t really want it to succeed or are too busying covering their own a*ses).

This approach is not advocating speed at the expense of quality nor is it calling for cutting corners or riding roughshod over people, but rather to the contrary, it calls for techniques similar to the military of moving with absolute focus, determination, efficiency, collaboration, synchronization, and overwhelming “project power” to ensure it’s success. 

Projects, like battles, can be “won” by putting the right resources on the field and moving them to get quick wins in rapid succession (where the enemies of progress don’t stand a real fight) so that the projects get not only completed on time and within budget, but most importantly to real stakeholder satisfaction and the organization’s success. 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to AlexVan)

Nitpicking To Death

It’s funny some people go straight for the kill when they don’t like something. 

Others may nitpick you to death. 

Always! looking for something to henpeck at.

It comes out as you’re stupid, lazy, incompetent, and even worthless.

Why can’t you do anything right (read: the way I would do it)?

If only you would change this, that, or the other thing then it would all be better!

But even when you do manage to change this, that or the other thing–guess what? That just sparks the next round of destructive criticism and never being satisfied.

Hey, since when are you so (f*ckin) perfect?  

Or as the old saying goes, “Who died and made you G-d?”

It should not be about grabbing some sadistic pleasure out of torturing other people with narcissism, judgmentalism, endless criticism and naysaying.

Instead of tearing down, let’s focus on the big picture and what success looks like.

How can everyone contribute to that vision and effort?

Customer service doesn’t mean personal servitude. 

There is such a thing as being a team player, identifying when good is good enough, and driving forward rather than seeking to derail or even go backward. 

Competency is not just for service providers, but for the customers. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Change Everybody Loves To Hate

I thought this saying from a colleague was really astute.

“Everybody hates the status quo

but nobody wants to change.”

How’s that for a conundrum. 

The question is are we more unhappy with the dysfunctional way things are or are we more afraid to make the necessary changes in our life?

I think that when the pain and dysfunction of the status quo are greater than the fear and inconvenience of changing, only then will people quite resisting and adapt to the new reality. 

Welcome to change!  😉

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

Don’t Let Debbie Downer Take You Down

Saturday Night Live has a spoof about Negative Nellie’s and they call her Debbie Downer.

We all know people like this who are the Voice of Doom and the Doctor No’s.

Whatever the topic is–they’ve been there, done it, and have seen it fail–“We tried that before,” “That’s not the way we do things here,” “You just don’t understand,” “It will never work.”

They see danger and bad everywhere and in everything, even in the face of positive and promise.

These are the people who are obstinate, the naysayers, and are against change at all cost–they fear it or just don’t want to deal with it.

BusinessWeek has an interesting perspective on this–how even these people can be employed to have a beneficial impact on projects–by having them tell you everything that can go wrong, so you can take steps to plan and mitigate against these.

Some people only want to have positive people around them–“yes men,” who only tell them how smart and right they are all the time.

However, the best leaders don’t want kiss ups and brown nosers, but rather value”truth tellers,” who will provide them solid advice and guidance on issues, tell them when they think something is wrong or risky, and even take an opposing point of view or play devil’s advocate.

I remember when I was asked about whether a certain project was going to meet a very near deadline, and I said point blank, “Do you want me just to say yes or do you want me to tell you the truth?”

I got a big smile to that and the appreciation that I was real and truthful and there to make a difference and not just be another lump on the log.

The point is not to be a Debbie Downer or a brown noser, but to be an Honest Joe or Jane. 😉